BUSINESS BRIEFING | LEGAL; Carl Icahn Moves To Control Trump Resorts

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

Published: December 12, 2009

Carl C. Icahn, the investor, agreed to buy most of Trump Entertainment Resorts' bank debt, pitting Mr. Icahn against a bondholders' reorganization plan for the casino operator. Mr. Icahn leads a group that will buy a secured loan from the Beal Bank, which is first in line among creditors, and agreed to back the lender's reorganization plan for Trump Entertainment, according to a statement Friday. Trump Entertainment's three casinos filed for bankruptcy protection for the third time in February, blaming a high debt load and falling revenue. The founder, Donald Trump, and his daughter, Ivanka, dropped Beal as a partner last month and backed a bondholder plan that would give him up to 10 percent of the reorganized company.

''Despite the current problems in Atlantic City I continue to have great faith in the city's future,'' Mr. Icahn said in the statement. The competing plan ''is a roll of the dice to releverage these operations, which may well turn into a round-trip ticket to bankruptcy court,'' he said. Beal Bank is based in Plano, Tex. Trump Entertainment, based in Atlantic City, owns the Trump Taj Mahal Resort, the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino.